The Astros aren’t the most lethal of opponents, but we caught a glimpse of vintage Tim Lincecum on Saturday night in San Francisco. And it was good.

The Giants right-hander yielded just five hits over eight scoreless innings, racking up 11 strikeouts while issuing just one walk. He needed 114 pitches and his velocity declined steadily over the course of the evening, but Lincecum battled through all that and handed a 2-0 lead to closer Santiago Casilla.

Casilla blew the save, but backup catcher Hector Sanchez picked him up in the 12th inning with a walkoff RBI single that scored Pablo Sandoval.

Lincecum lowered his ERA from 6.42 to 5.93. He’ll take on the Phillies in his next scheduled outing.

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher has reversed course and will continue to pay minor leaguers. Fisher tells Slusser, “I concluded I made a mistake.” He said he is also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees.

The A’s decided in late May to stop paying paying minor leaguers as of June 1, which was the earliest date on which any club could do so after an MLB-wide agreement to pay minor leaguers through May 31 expired. In the event, the A’s were the only team to stop paying the $400/week stipends to players before the end of June. Some teams, notable the Royals and Twins, promised to keep the payments up through August 31, which is when the minor league season would’ve ended. The Washington Nationals decided to lop off $100 of the stipends last week but, after a day’s worth of blowback from the media and fans, reversed course themselves.

An @sfchronicle exclusive: A's owner John Fisher reverses course, apologizes: team will pay minor-leaguers; "I concluded I made a mistake," he tells me. He's also setting up an assistance fund for furloughed employees: https://t.co/8HUBkFAaBx)